Classic Cars And Dramatic Skies

A reminder to those in the Ottawa area: Buskerfest is this weekend, and Colonel By Day happens on Monday with events around the Bytown Museum.

Today I have an odds and ends post. To start things off, I have this view of the Alexandra Bridge crossing the Ottawa River to Gatineau, taken on Victoria Day in May.

This is outside a pub in the Glebe.

In late May I caught this classic car near that pub.

Early in June we had a tornado hit east of the city. This shot shows the retreating edge of the storm that spawned that as a dramatic backdrop to Mercury Court. The building was once a department store, and was converted by an architecture firm that has offices inside and which specializes in heritage restoration work. The building also houses the Swedish embassy.

Later in June I photographed this large sculpture. 12 Points In A Classical Balance is a 1982 work by BC artist Chung Hung built of western red cedar. I've shown it to you before in this post. It stood originally in the Garden Of The Provinces And Territories, which lies nearby at a lower elevation. This park overlooks that spot; the sculpture was moved to make way for the placement of a future monument.

Generally speaking I don't care for bumper stickers, but this one caught my eye on a car parked near Richmond Landing one day in June.

This bench sculpture stands outside the headquarters for Library And Archives Canada. Lea Vivot is the artist behind The Secret Bench Of Knowledge. I photographed it earlier this month.

On the same day, a bit further west, I stopped at the Canadian Firefighters Memorial, near the War Museum. The large statue of a firefighter points towards a wall with names of firefighters from across the country who have given their lives in the line of duty. September sees a national service of remembrance held at this site.

The Festival In The Street

Glowfair is the name of a street festival that takes place on several blocks of Bank Street for a couple of evenings each June. It is a mix of music, art, performance, and spectacle. I missed a lot of it this year, and so only documented it briefly on the two evenings as I was passing through. On the first evening there was a clear sky. Aerial acrobats belonging to a group called Aerial Antics were setting up. I've seen them before here, as well as at Buskerfest.

Large inflatable mushrooms, no doubt illuminated at night, were down the street.

The following evening it was raining as I passed through. Large canvases had been set up for street artists to work with. Many of them were well in progress at that point, with the artists using traditional paint and brush or spray paint.

There are educational aspects to all of this, including in regards to First Nations culture. This shelter was set up, along with items such as furs done in the traditional way.

I finish up with these musicians.

Finale For The Museum

Today I'm finishing off my series from Canada Day and this visit to the Canadian Museum of History. The concluding area looks at various themes of the country's history, both at home and abroad. This includes the First Nations. This powwow regalia on display comes from Amanda Laroque, a Mi'kmaq performer of powwow dance.

First Nations artists have come into their own while reflecting their cultural influences, such as soapstone carving or the finer details of an orca sculpture.

This lithograph is titled Nunavut (Our Land), and was commissioned to commemorate the signing of the 1993 land claim agreement that would lead to the reorganization of the Northwest Territories and the establishment of the Nunavut Territory. It was done by Kneojuak Ashevak.

The Acadian community in Canada is a distinct French speaking culture, mostly based out of New Brunswick, where they make up a third of the population. This is an Acadian flag.

This is a robe for the International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia. Louise Arbour was a Canadian judge who was designated the chief prosecutor in the late 1990s for war crimes investigations in the former Yugoslavia. She later served as UN High Commissioner For Human Rights from 2004-2008.

I took my leave, photographing over the roof of St. Onuphrius as I went.

I finish with this shot taken of the Museum from the Alexandra Bridge as I crossed over the Ottawa River. 

The Nation Progresses

The last section of the Canadian History Hall, which picks up the story from 1914 on and carries to the present day, is on the upper level here at the Museum of History. A long ramp winds up around the entrance hall. This space has a topographic map of the country laid out on the floor.

At this point in the day my camera was in need of a recharge, so I didn't take as many shots in this final section. I started with this crucifix, fashioned out of the ruins of a church at Passchendaele, France. That town was the site of a costly 1917 Canadian victory in the First World War.

Following the Second World War, Newfoundland entered Confederation as the tenth province, an endeavour led by the premier at the time, Joey Smallwood, who is deemed the last Father of Confederation. This rug hooking shows the island. 

Debates rose up in the late 1950s and early 1960s on the idea of a new flag or keeping the Red Ensign. Some of the designs are found in this section.

1967 was the centennial year of Canadian Confederation, and the occasion was marked in big ways and in personal ways. Displayed here in the museum is a personal centennial project by Marjorie Gehl, the daughter of a diplomat posted at the time in the United States.

Another centennial event was a voyageur canoe journey by ten teams across over five thousand kilometres from Rocky Mountain House in Alberta to Montreal that summer. This photograph shows the participants in training.

Expo 67 was held in Montreal, showcasing the country to the world. Among the structures erected for the event was the Indians Of Canada Pavilion. This is the original model for it.

I leave off for today with this stained glass window, one of a matching pair dating to 2012. Giniigaaniimenaaning (Looking Ahead) is the title of this, commissioned to recognize the survivors of the residential schools and their families- a dark mark on Canadian history in terms of our treatment of our First Nations peoples. Its twin was installed in Centre Block, though I imagine with the work presently underway has been removed for storage for the time being.

Within The Sanctuary

In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, an influx of immigrants from the Ukraine came into Canada. Many of them settled in the West, holding onto traditions while adapting to life in the New World. At Smoky Lake, Alberta, a church was erected by 1915. St. Onuphrius is a consecrated Ukrainian Catholic Church. Given to the museum in 1996, the church was installed here and still occupies pride of place inside the permanent galleries. It is a wonder to behold, and in fact still holds religious services on occasion.

Stepping out of the sanctuary, one can walk right around the church and look in back windows or doorways, in on what was the sacristy.

Other windows give one a view into that portion of the chancel beyond the rood screen. This church is quite a treasure.